Opera Al Bacio
– Matters of the Heart

DESCRIPTION

A journey into the world of love through the music of Gaetano Donizetti.

Love is the main theme of opera, and in Gaetano Donizetti’s works it takes many forms: tender, sincere, passionate, sometimes unconventional. The romantic composer, who lived in the 19th century, tells true stories, far removed from the arranged marriages of his time. Donizetti also experienced true love in his own life with Virginia Vasselli, whose loss deeply marked his existence.

Why talk about love?

Because love has always been with us: for our mum and dad, for our family, for our friends, for the passions that ignite our hearts. It is a universal language that unites young and old alike.

How will we discover this?

Through two engaging workshops:

Musical and vocal workshop – The workshop offers an immersion in the atmosphere of Donizetti’s operas to explore, through music and singing, themes related to love such as alliances, sacrifices and support. Participants will sing reworked arias from the opera Chiara e Serafina, using psychophonetic vocalisations and body movements to activate the body as an expressive instrument. The vocal work will focus on the chest area to awaken the emotional frequencies of the heart.

Iconographic workshop – The workshop explores the importance of physical expressiveness in opera, combining voice and music with physical interpretation. Through photographs and historical materials from the Donizetti Theatre Foundation Archive, participants will discover how theatre, from the 19th century to the present day, conveys emotions and stories through gestures, faces and movements, offering a visual and historical interpretation of scenic change over time. A sensory and creative experience to experience opera from the inside, through emotions, history and beauty.

Primary schools will explore the story of the opera Chiara e Serafina.